Prev | Current Page 313 | Next

Reade, Charles, 1814-1884

"A Woman-Hater"


"My view was tenable; and Cornelia, by her beauty and her popularity,
gained over all the professors to it but one. He stood out.
"Well, sir, an extraordinary occurrence befriended me; no, not
extraordinary-- unusual.
"I lodged on a second floor. The first floor was very handsome. A young
Englishman and his wife took it for a week. She was musical--a real
genius. The only woman I ever heard sing without whining; for we are, by
nature, the medical and unmusical sex."
"So you said before."
"I know I did; and I mean to keep saying it till people see it. Well, the
young man was taken violently and mysteriously ill; had syncope after
syncope, and at last ceased to breathe.
"The wife was paralyzed, and sat stupefied, and the people about feared
for her reason.
"After a time they begged me to come down and talk to her. Of course I
went. I found her with her head upon his knees. I sat down quietly, and
looked at him. He was young and beautiful, but with a feminine beauty;
his head finely shaped, with curly locks that glittered in the sun, and
one golden lock lighter than the rest; his eyes and eyelashes, his oval
face, his white neck, and his white hand, all beautiful.


Pages:
301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325